The Earthquake Commission has apologised “unreservedly” to customers whose claims information was unintentionally shared with one of its customers and their lawyer.

Chief Executive Officer Sid Miller says what is most disappointing about the incident is that EQC has multi-layered security measures to protect the information about its customers.

“Unfortunately, a staff member failed to follow several key security steps, including well-established password protection of the documents, despite receiving the appropriate training.”

Mr Miller explains that the information released relates to 8,000 claims.

EQC only intended the customer to receive their claims information.

As soon as EQC became aware of the error, Mr Miller says, it took all possible steps to rectify the error and contain the information. The lawyer involved has deleted the documents and EQC is waiting for confirmation from the customer that they have done the same.

“We are also contacting all affected customers to apologise to them and explain the steps we have taken to protect their claims information,” says Mr Miller.